Modern Red Riding Hood Takes No Guff Off Wolf

Dano Beal crouched low in a chair in his Sunrise Elementary classroom, pretending to be a wolf disguised as old woman.

Chassie Guinn wasn’t fooled for a minute.

“Grandma, what big teeth you have,” said the 10-year-old co-star of “Red v. The Wolf,” the Children’s Theatre in the Valley’s newest production.

“The better to eat you with, my dear,” Beal responded, rising from his chair.

“Oh yeah? How dumb do you think I am?” Guinn’s sassy Red Riding Hood yelled back at the wolf, karate chopping him in the stomach while her classmates, watching the inclass rehearsal, cheered and laughed.

In part of the play, a re-take on the classic tale, Red is an obnoxious little brat and dominates the wolf, who is, after all, not a bad guy.

“Take that, and that and that,” Guinn said, her small fists landing numerous blows in Beal’s torso as he twisted this way and that, trying to ward them off.

By coincidence, Beal and a student in his class of fourth-graders were cast in the starring roles as Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf. Forty children and five adults tried out for 10 parts, so four extra parts were written in to accommodate more children, says the play’s director, Vicki Hynes.

“Red v. The Wolf” is the third production put on by the Children’s Theatre in the Valley. The goal of the company, Hynes said, is to interest more children in theater. The play opens Saturday at the ACT Theatre on Evergreen Road.

After the classroom rehearsal ends, Guinn reverts back to a sweet, shy fourth-grader. Her hands are shoved in the pockets of her jeans. Long blond hair is held back by a barrette.

Guinn loves to play the naughty side of Red Riding Hood “because that’s just not Chassie at all,” Beal said. “She’s a talented little girl.”

Guinn, who has been acting for two and a half years, already has the demeanor of a successful actress. She’s poised and dreams of acting on Broadway. She discusses her favorite plays and directors.

When she and Beal are at rehearsal, four days a week for the past three weeks, their teacherstudent relationship changes, Guinn said.

“I’ll call him by his first name at rehearsals. Sometimes I feel weird about that,” she said. “But at rehearsals, I’m not like his student anymore.”

Beal has also been acting for years. He toured with Walt Disney Productions, doing stunts and commercials, and has acted with theaters in Minneapolis and Denver. But teaching, he said, is his most treasured role.

“I’ve always loved kids. I have a gift for working with kids,” he said.

The other students get a kick out of the play. Now they call Beal the big bad wolf. “Especially when I give homework,” Beal said.